


𐃏—drive—𐃏

by sonshineandshowers



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Reflection, Substance Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24225655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonshineandshowers/pseuds/sonshineandshowers
Summary: Adolpho's heard it all. They’ve been on all kinds of rides together, high and low, many wilder than the sharpest dips and turns on the fanciest new rollercoasters.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	𐃏—drive—𐃏

He had heard it all — "Adolpho, hide the coke," "Adolpho, my pills," "Adolpho, take a few more laps so I can sober up first." They’d been on all kinds of rides together, high and low, many wilder than the sharpest dips and turns on the fanciest new rollercoasters.

Adolpho was the designated driver, thank goodness.

Jessica was the dependent socialite.

At least she became less so over time. Needing something to get through each day turned to every once in awhile pills and emotional bouts of alcohol as far as he could tell. Down from the all the time everything.

She was definitely where Malcolm got that tendency from. She might blame many of his other idiosyncrasies on his father, but that one was squarely on her.

So when Adolpho got a call to pick Malcolm up from a nightclub at 1AM, he expected high, drunk, or some form of manic out of his mind like he tended to tip toward after many sleepless nights. Malcolm’s calls had been infrequent since he got back to New York, but his younger days remained fresh like the coffee he had downed before he headed out. One sip, and Adolpho was wired to get him home safely.

Adolpho didn't expect a face full of purple leaned into the side of a building holding himself up, jeans and sweater dirtied. An arm clutching his ribs. Another hand that looked swollen and cracked. A broken shell of a Malcolm trying to hold it together enough until he arrived.

Adolpho ran around the SUV and opened the door, then hurried to help Malcolm to the vehicle. Much of Malcolm’s weight leaning into him, Adolpho wondered whether he would’ve been able to walk on his own. "Do you need the hospital?" he asked, concerned by his outward appearance.

"I'm sorry to call so late, but a cabbie would have looked at me even worse than you just did," Malcolm shared, limping toward the vehicle.

Adolpho helped him into the backseat and hustled around to the driver's seat. "Doctor?" he suggested. Swelling like that didn’t just up and vanish. Was anything broken under that purple?

"Just home."

Adolpho knew better than to take his first response at face value. Jessica might not want him to challenge her, but he could get away with it with her son. If Malcolm had a medical emergency at home, and he had been the last one to see him, Jessica wouldn't be happy. "How about over to the Lieutenant’s?” Adolpho gave an alternative.

"I need to go _home_ ," Malcolm's voice broke, his face tucked into the door.

So maybe it was worse than he realized. He stopped talking and kept driving. The guy was usually pretty out of it when he was in the vehicle, so Adolpho figured this time would be like most others. Adolpho would take him from point a to point b, they might chat a little, and a gracious thank you would stay behind long after he left.

What had happened to him? Bar fight? The guy wasn’t drunk — not even a hint of alcohol on his breath. Targeted? Wouldn’t he have called Gil directly? He certainly hadn’t done _that_ to himself.

“Get in a fight with a wall?” Adolpho asked, looking in the rearview mirror.

“It’s not important,” Malcolm muttered, his voice quiet, yet no longer on the verge of upset.

“If it was a crime, I know — “

“Wrong place, wrong time,” he was quick to cut him off. He didn’t seem to want to talk about it, but Adolpho didn’t take the hint to stop. It never seemed productive with him.

There were a dozen reasons Adolpho could guess, yet listing them all off would be insensitive, poking at old wounds and making assumptions that were none of his business. “Why you?” he ventured instead.

“Why not me?” Malcolm offered a response he didn’t expect. “Go after my mother’s money, my father’s insanity, or my sister’s — “ he stopped his rant, taking a heavy breath.

It wasn’t a leap of a guess to say, “Trash talk your sister?”

“No. Saw me on a news report. Put two and two together and smashed my face.” Ouch. On a night out at the club? Or was he out walking and it was the least conspicuous place to wait? Did danger follow this guy everywhere?

“Ribs, and some self defense?” he attempted to tally the injuries he had seen.

“Something like that.” Malcolm shifted in the seat to look back at him. “You ever punch anyone?”

“No one who didn’t deserve it,” he said with a smile. A long time ago several times after too many beers and over one another’s products, but the guy didn’t need to know that. Didn’t need the information making it back to Jessica.

Malcolm’s chuckle turned into a cough morphed into a deep moan of pain from the backseat. Adolpho watched him lean over his knees and sit back up, trying to find some position that was comfortable.

Maybe that was the window. “Can I please take you to the Lieutenant’s?” he tried again, and quickly tacked on, “Of course I won’t mention anything to your mother, but I don’t think your bird is going to be able to patch you up.”

“Sunshine,” Malcolm corrected between short pulls of breath.

“Lieutenant?” Persistence, persistence, c’mon…

“Okay,” Malcolm gave in, Adolpho finally luring the fish to his target.

Adolpho drove a few more blocks and pulled up outside Gil’s apartment.

“We got here mighty fast, Adolpho,” Malcolm commented, signaling the gig was up. “Especially when Gil lives on the other side of town.”

“What can I say?” Adolpho feigned surprise. “I’m good at my job. Sometimes I know where the passenger needs to go better than they do.”

“Uhhuh. Surprised my mother didn’t preprogram the vehicle to the hospital for you.” Malcolm rolled his eyes.

“My domain in here,” Adolpho assured, running his hands admirably over the steering wheel. No one else touched his SUV. No one messed with Lena, or they had him to answer to. “Can you make it in? Or want some help?”

“I’ve got it.” Malcolm tugged the door handle.

“Hey, hey — my domain,” Adolpho scolded and ran around to open the door. “Don’t need you face first on the pavement.”

“It’s concrete,” Malcolm corrected as Adolpho eased his feet onto the sidewalk.

Adolpho let him go, testing whether he could walk on his own. The guy looked worse than a fish out of water, not even having the energy to struggle back toward the sea. He’d never admit it, though. He’d fall down the damn stairs walking into Gil’s before he asked for help.

But little by little, he shuffled in the right direction. “I’m good, Adolpho,” Malcolm called over his shoulder. “Until next time.”

“Under better circumstances, alright? Like a date or something. I’m your guy.” Maybe a nice drive along the river. Or maybe the guy would even ask for suggestions.

Malcolm chuckled. “Might be awhile.”

“Ballgame with the Lieutenant?” Gil was always a safe alternative the guy looked forward to. The one person outside of his family who remained a steady presence in his life.

“I’ll let him know. I’m sure he’d like that.” Malcolm paused to lean against the building a moment. “Even getcha a ticket like old times, ‘cause you sure know the game better than I do.”

“You’ve got the sign interpreting for us.” Adolpho watched him totter toward the entrance another moment, sure the guy was going to eat it. “You sure you’re alright going up?”

“I got it.” Malcolm waved. “Goodnight.”

Adolpho got back into the SUV, glad his passenger was delivered to his destination in one piece. Again.

Jessica would thank him later. After berating him for not taking her son to the emergency room first.

How she figured out these things, he had no idea.

Maybe she was tracking the vehicle.

He shook his head to clear the paranoid thought and checked the backseat to see if Malcolm had accidentally left anything behind. Slid into the center console was a slip of paper curled around a Benjamin. _Thank You. Again._

Adolpho pocketed the tip and pulled away, heading home to go back to sleep. He was too old to be spending all hours out wandering any longer.

* * *

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> "adolpho, hide the coke" is a nod to a line from the og unedited pilot script


End file.
